Latest talks to form government in Iceland collapse

FILE - In this Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016 file photo, Katrin Jakobsdottir of the Left-Green Movement party sits in a TV studio in Reykjavik, Iceland. Iceland’s president says Friday Nov. 25, 2016, attempts to form a government have collapsed, with the leader of the country’s largest left-of-center party admitting defeat in coalition talks. Left-Green Movement leader Katrin Jakobsdottir has told President Gudni Johannesson that she could not reach agreement with other parties. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
(The Associated Press)

LONDON – Iceland's president says attempts to form a government have collapsed, with the leader of the country's largest left-of-center party admitting defeat in coalition talks.

Left-Green Movement leader Katrin Jakobsdottir has told President Gudni Johannesson that she could not reach agreement with other parties.

The biggest party in parliament, the center-right Independence Party, had earlier failed to assemble a majority coalition.

Johannesson told reporters Friday that he would not offer any party leader a third chance. He said lawmakers in Iceland's parliament should meet to find a way to form a government.

If they fail, Iceland could face its second election this year. Voters went to the polls Oct. 29 in an election called after the prime minister resigned amid protests over his offshore holdings, revealed in the Panama Papers leak.